AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013 SA MINES & ENERGY JOURNAL
INNOVATION
27
The company has
invested in excess
of $21 million
over ve years to
fund what is the
world's biggest
commercial
privately-funded
external robotics
initiative.
more than 270 employees to
operate and work alongside these
autonomous haul trucks,
" he says.
"Our teams managing this
equipment recognise the
significant opportunity they have to
be up-skilled in a mining system.
"The disciplines will range
from specialist communications
personnel to systems,
electronics, software and other
niche technical disciplines.
Mr Petty says that although some
specific roles are likely to disappear
over time as a result of the
technology, a far greater number
will be added or enhanced, with net
employment expected to increase.
By the end of 2015, Rio
Tinto plans to ship one million
tonnes of iron ore per day from
what will be the largest civilian
robotics project in the world.
Along with its collaborations
with Komatsu, Rio Tinto
established the Rio Tinto Centre
for Mine Automation with the
Australian Centre for Field Robotics
at the University of Sydney in 2007.
The company has invested in
excess of $21 million over five
years to fund what is the world's
biggest commercial privately-
funded external robotics initiative.
And with the primary focus of
the research centre to develop
and implement the vision of a fully
autonomous remotely operated
mine, future mines will see more
than just driverless trucks: there
will also be driverless trains.
The company joined forces
with international rail specialists
Ansaldo STS to design, implement
and operate the world's first
long haul deployment of
heavy haul driverless trains.
Known as AutoHaul, the
project will develop a modular
signalling system to manage train
movements from an operation
centre in Perth -- 1500km
from the actual mine site.
This means that a network
of more than 150 trains a week
carrying more than 10,000
tonnes of iron ore will be
remotely controlled, relying on
sensors alongside the track to
guide them to their location.
Owning the entire logistics
infrastructure already allows
the company to operate using
the campaign railway concept,
allowing trains to be managed on a
shipment by shipment basis rather
than run on a regular schedule.
Modifications to the fleet
including electronically controlled
pneumatic braking and 'onboard
modules' mean all existing line
side infrastructure will need to
be converted to capture and
transmit real time data to the
operation centre in Perth.
The first driverless trains
will be launched in 2014.
"We expect the trains to
provide great efficiency, both
through removing downtime
such as drivers ferrying and
changeovers and also through
reductions in fuel and CO2
emissions,
" Mr Petty says.
Although this system is
currently exclusive to the
Pilbara, Rio Tinto has not ruled
out utilising the technology at
other operations -- including
eventually South Australia. With
the company in a joint venture
with Tasman Resources in the
Vulcan copper-uranium-gold project
located 30km from Olympic
Dam, the development of an
AHS-equipped mine in South
Australia is a real possibility.
"In terms of rolling out new
technologies at other operations,
our immediate focus remains
on the 150 truck deployment in
the Pilbara and continuing trials
of other autonomous projects,
however, Rio Tinto will look for
suitability of the technology in
product groups,
" Mr Petty adds.
So the question remains: how
long until we see driverless
trucks and trains at mine sites
operated from control centres
in Adelaide, and a change
from the traditional mining
methods in South Australia?
Only time will tell.